DIY Corset Kit

There are many times making your own corset kit comes in handy. Need a corset? Need a perfect match to your fabric? Then making your own corset kit might be the answer for you. This tutorial for a corset kit was originally featured in our pageant wear pattern Katherine. However, you can use it in place of any corset to add a perfect match to many of our other patterns such as Gracelynn, and Lilac. By removing the center back panel, you can also add it to Odette.

Project Run and Play Week 4: Signature Style

I can't believe I made it to the final week of Project Run and Play! I have had so much fun during this competition and have made so many things I never knew I could make! I was a little nervous when I found out this week is Signature Style because I feel like I don't actually have a "signature style". I tend to make simple, everyday, knit pieces--like t-shirts and leggings--with my "free time". As a business owner and a mom, my daily life doesn't involve much sewing, unfortunately its mostly computer work. When I do get a chance to sew I usually make something practical that my kids can wear to school or I can wear while out running errands like grocery shopping, and it HAS to be a fast sew because I don't have much time to spare. This doesn't leave much in the way of creativity and this competition is ALL about creativity. I felt like I was in a conundrum. One of my favorite styles to look at and be inspired by is bohemian, aka boho. Boho style is so carefree with gorgeous fabrics that have movement and color, not to mention the gorgeous trims with lace and fringe....its dreamy! I decided to lean this way with my "Signature Style" but to focus on translating these carefree styles to more age-appropriate styles that can be worn everyday.

The first thing I did was to go through my fabrics and see what I had to choose from. I'm pretty broke from this competition at this point; I've over-extended my monthly fabric budget tenfold! lol. Thankfully as I went through my stash I had enough fabrics to achieve the look I was going for and a good mix of textures to keep it interesting! In fact, every single fabric and trim came directly from my stash so I didn't have to spend a penny this week...thank goodness because I didn't have any money left to spend. 

As of Friday mornings results, I only had two pieces completed: my daughter's outfit in the teal high-low dress and kimono with a potential photoshoot (if I made the final week) planned for Saturday. Luckily, I do okay sewing under pressure because the pressure was definitely on for this week! My daughter's outfit is a self-drafted high low with a fun, open back. I put on some inspirational words using my silhouette cameo and heat transfer vinyl because boho is also about being comfortable in your own skin and loving yourself! I paired it with a self-drafted high-low kimono and added a fringe trim for interest and texture. I topped the look off with a handmade braided suede choker.

Despite being everyday wear, I wanted to add a little fancier piece to the collection, because most runway collections have a fancy piece at the end! I settled on a gorgeous lace maxi: CKC Lynx's. The dress is lined with knit navy fabric that is knee length which helps make the dress a little more casual. Unfortunately the little boho belt I made was lost in the shuffle and got left at home for the photoshoot, but you can see it in the flat lay and it helped make the dress a little more casual as well. 

You cannot have a boho collection without bell bottoms. I made this pair, CKC Marsha's, out of double brushed poly and added a yoga waistband. For the shirt, I used a ruffled off the shoulder top, CKC Marina's,  that I tied at the waist. I also made a cute little hippie headband and handmade choker to add that final touch!

Next I made a self-drafted maxi romper! These seemed to be super popular this summer and I never got the chance to make one so I jumped at the chance to include one in this collection. I couldn't be happier with the way this one turned out and most importantly, the little model LOVED it. When she went to get dressed for the photoshoot, the shorts were sewn on sideways! lol. I had to chop them off and quickly resew them back on before we could leave for the photoshoot. That was super stressful! The romper is made with double brushed poly and crepe woven fabric for the skirt. I love the added touch of peekaboo lace on the sleeves and the handmade choker to go with it.

The final look I made with the self-drafted, tiered cold shoulder peasant dress. When the model tried it on it was kind of plain when compared to everyone else's outfit and a tad short so I whipped up that on-the-spot made up skirt extender in about 7 mins so we could rush off to the photoshoot! 

This whole collection and photoshoot was insane and seemed like a comedy of errors at times. My friends and I lugged this wicker couch--that I bought for $10 a year ago on a family vacation despite my husbands objections....and its been sitting in the garage since we brought it home--all over this wooded area to try and get amazing pictures. All the girls were completely crazy--despite what these pictures show--and these were literally the ONLY photos from 400 photos that turned out halfway decent. Despite all of the complications, I love how the collection turned out and most importantly the girls loved them and were SO comfortable in them.

Project Run and Play has been a fun experience thats pushed me well out of my comfort zone at times. I've made 15 different outfits, sewn 27 pieces total, and had 4 big photoshoots in 4 weeks. I was literally racing the clock every week! But I got it all done and I'm super proud of the things I've created!

Free Journal Cover Tutorial

   

I have been using a journal to help me keep track of design ideas for a while, and decided a pretty cover was in order!  I made journal covers for teacher gifts a couple of years ago and remembered how much fun it was!  I had just enough of this fabric combo (one of my favorites from a dress I made my daughter). 

Project Run and Play Week 3: Stroke of Genius

Thank you so much for bringing me back for one more week! I was so excited about this week so I'm happy I get to share it with you all. 

Art has always been so inspiring to me, and one artist in particular I have always been drawn to: Vincent Van Gogh. So much so, that we got a puppy earlier this year and named him Vincent. So when I saw this week's theme I instantly knew I was going to choose something to do with Van Gogh.  After a little narrowing down I settled on the idea of doing Van Gogh's Flowers. Of course, he has many more flower paintings than this, but these are the ones that inspired me most. 

The first design I worked on was based off of Van Gogh's Almond Blossom painting. I'm no artist, but when I was younger I enjoyed drawing trees and branches so I got the crazy idea to attempt to recreate this beautiful painting on the dress.

 I worked for 6 hours on free hand painting this skirt. I didn't trace it out or practice beforehand, I just started painting and hoped for the best! Originally I wanted to paint the entire skirt but after painting for three hours and only doing a quarter of the skirt I abandoned the plan and settled on it being a focal point of the dress and not an overall design of the fabric. Hey, I only have a week, right?!? Once I competed painting the skirt, I hand sewed 60 chiffon flowers onto the branches to mimc the blossoms in the painting. The skirt turned out more beautiful than I imagined it would and while it doesn't look exactly like Van Gogh's painting, its clearly inspired by it and I've never attempted anything like before so I'm proud of the 8 hours of painting and hand sewing I put into this skirt. I used CKC Everlee's for the bodice and CKC Adileen's for the skirt. I love the modern look that this combo created; it was perfect for my tween!

The second design I chose to work on was based off of one of Van Gogh's most recognizable series of paintings: Sunflowers. Sunflowers have always been a favorite of mine because the colors are so bold and just a beautiful golden yellow-orange hue. I was lucky enough to find the perfect color of fabric for the sunflower--I am limited to what colors my local Joann has in stock since I am not ahead of schedule for this competition so "lucky" is not an exaggeration!

 I decided to make a one shoulder color blocked romper to mimic the painting and instead of adding lots of sunflowers, I made one bold flower. I also hand beaded the center of the sunflower to further draw attention to the sunflower--not that it needed any help because that flower is bold, but it really topped off the look! For the romper I used CKC Aria's bodice and CKC Honey's romper bottom. 

The final design was one that I really decided to make last minute...as in Friday night before our photoshoot on Saturday. I somehow convinced myself that these two pieces I had completed couldn't be a flower "collection". I think I'm really just a glutton for punishment. lol. I had no idea what I was going to make but I just knew I wanted it to look like an gorgeous ruffled iris--another favorite flower of mine.

After digging through my patterns I couldn't find anything that gave the look I was trying to achieve so I self-drafted this dress I envisioned and prayed for the best. It was a relief when I completed it and it both worked out and looked exactly like what I wanted; the model looks like a beautiful iris!

I feel like I was super reckless this week with my creating. I didn't draw anything out, I didn't practice anything before hand, I bought just *enough* fabric for no mistakes, I threw all cautions to the wind and just created! I wasn't even worried or anxious hoping that things turned out! I somehow just knew it would work. Project Run and Play is changing the way I create and for that alone I am grateful for this opportunity! I am not scared to try new things anymore--like painting on fabric when you by the end of the bolt and have no extra in case you ruin it or sewing 50 yards of tulle when I've never really worked with tulle like that before. I really hope that you guys love my designs and I make it through to the final week even though I still don't know what my week 4 is going to be--but I'm not worried! Even if I don't make it though, I am thrilled with my creations and had so much fun proving to myself that I am worthy of competing with all of these phenomenal designers!

Happy Sewing!
Shannon

Project Run and Play Week 2: Flights of Fancy

It is the second week of Project Run and Play and I am beyond thrilled about this week's theme: Flights of Fancy. I love birds so much but I really had no idea what I was going to do until I was scrolling Instagram and saw my friend and her family at one of the most beautiful water fountains I'd ever seen. I knew I had to shoot there and I had a very editorial photoshoot in mind. I ended up settling on a swan because they like to swim in fountains, I think, and what bird is more elegant than a swan? I really wanted to make a gown that will stand out in front of this grandiose fountain and a white swan just wouldn't do it in my opinion which led me to the idea of doing the Black Swan. I was inspired by Natalie Portman's version of the Black Swan with the crown and the makeup, but as you'll see my gown is no tutu!

When deciding on a gown, I wanted to make sure I was making something that was reminiscent of a swan without having to spend a fortune on feathers...because I looked and believe me, I could have easily spent hundreds of dollars designing this dress!!!

After much consideration, I settled on our CKC Berlin's pattern for the dresses inspiration because I thought the skirt kind of resembled feathers and perhaps, with multiple tiers, it could really look like a swan!?!

For the bodice I used a combination of CKC Betty's and CKC Charlotte's. Specifically, I used Betty's for the bodice and Charlotte's for the straps that tie back into the corset. Also, because the skirt was so heavy I decided to shirr the back middle panel to help carry the weight.

Speaking of the weight, I had to cut 148 squares of tulle for this dress which equalled a little over 50 yards when I was done! I've never created anything like this before and working with this amount of fabric was interesting to say the least. It took me as long to sew this one dress as it did to sew all 14 pieces in last weeks theme! 

It was so worth all of the effort though. My daughter had so much fun dressing up and playing an evil character; thats why she's not smiling in any pictures, she took it very seriously!

For the base of the bodice and the skirt I used rayon challis because it has such beautiful drape and is fairly easy to sew with. I drafted a quarter circle skirt and cut it into 3 tiers to sew all of the tulle to just as its done in Berlin's with the single tier.

I used crushed tulle and free-hand draped it on the bodice. I added feathers, a handmade rayon challis flower, and a handful of rhinestones to accent the bodice. 

I'm just so pleased with how this entire week turned out from the dress to the photoshoot. Thank you so much for joining me on this journey and checking in to read more about each weeks' look. 

Happy Sewing!

Shannon

DIY Knit Fabric Bow Headband Tutorial

 

Oh Good Gracious, SEW BOW-dacious!   We have a luscious large knit bow headband tutorial for you today. It's a trendy accessory for your knit creations.  

CKC Patterns' 30,000 Facebook Group Fans Giveaway!!

Hello! We here at CKC are celebrating some BIG milestones this week- 70,000+ likes on our business Facebook page is one of them.  The other milestone is gaining 30,000 amazing fans in our Facebook group!!! We really, really love and appreciate this milestone, because our group is truly filled with the most helpful, caring sewists around. We are so blessed to be able to interact with you daily, so of course we had to celebrate! We asked some friends of ours to help, and we have a few really awesome sponsors!! We didn't want to overwhelm you with so many options, so we've kept it short and sweet.

The giveaway runs from Wednesday, 9/5/18 12:00am EST to Wednesday, 9/12/18 12:00am EST. One winner will win all described here!! You must join the 6 groups listed (and you will not regret a single one of them), and you can earn extra entries. US residents only [I'm ducking here because we love you all!!! *shipping* :( ]

Here's the link to enter: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/09c5e4e41/?

Read on to see what you may win (plus a special gift from two sponsors)!

CKC Patterns is so happy to offer $100 store credit to our pattern store!  Shop our patterns here: ckcpatterns.com

CKC Patterns is also happy to offer this Sullivans Quilter's Table! Tiffany has this table, and the combination of storage, cutting, and the ability to put it away really makes this awesome!

Sly Fox Fabrics has been exceedingly generous and has donated a $75 gift card! They have also gone a step above, and they have also offered a 15% discount for ANYONE during the span of the giveaway!!. Once you join the Sly Fox Fabrics group, you will find the discount code listed in the pinned post/announcements.

I couldn't help myself: take a look at some of these fabrics!! Unique, fabulous prints on so many great bases. Dress the whole family and support a wonderful small business!

Knitpop is donating a $75 gift card! Furthermore, Knitpop is also offering a fun gift- mention CKC in the comments when placing an order (9/5-9/12), and they will add a surprise to your box!! Additionally, you will be entered into a raffle to win a 3-month Knitpop subscription.  When people are looking for quality, affordable knits, Knitpop is one of the most recommended shops. Knitpop has gorgeous fabrics that sew up so well, and they offer excellent customer service! 

Blithe Fabrics is offering a 3-yard gift certificate valid for a single retail or pre-order order ($74 value). Blithe has some amazing custom knits- being from Texas, I just loved the Selena fabrics from the recent pre-order! Check out her stuff!

Next up we have Jennifer's Jewels! She has donated 210 personalized labels ($69 value)!! Many of our staff members use her for our personal/store labels. The quality can't be beat! There are so many options, such as her poly cotton, satin, new tagless, size tabs or so many other choices while being able to use your own logo and wording.

Rounding up these awesome sponsors is The Fabric Candy Shoppe. She carries the most beautiful, colorful, fun, and high-quality prints in woven and knits!! The Fabric Candy Shoppe is donating Tula Pink's De La Luna Bundle - the De La Luna is considered a special line as the last reprinting of the line is September 2018 and will be considered Out Of Print (OOP)!! You will receive 2 Yards of main, 1 yard of coordinating, and 1/2 Yard of coordinating.

Finally, CKC Patterns is throwing in one last prize- we all need high-quality scissors, right? Those little stinkers love to run away! We have added Gingher 8-Inch Knife Edge Dressmaker's Shears and Gingher 01-005290 Embroidery Scissors 4 Inch.

SO, what do you think? Pretty awesome, right? We have more than $635 in prizes- all for one lucky winner. And they are all great quality, fun prizes- you won't be disappointed with anything listed here!

Good luck!

Project Run and Play Week 1: Willy Wonka

I am so excited to share my first week for Project Run and Play with all of you! The theme was Willy Wonka, and while I'm personally not a fan of Willy Wonka, I recognized that it was a 'classic' and there was a lot of inspiration available to sew from. And boy was I inspired! I ended up sewing a total of 14 pieces in five days to complete this whole theme of Willy Wonka Academy. I really loved the six main characters and wanted to design around them, but I didn't want them to be costume-y, even though I was more than comfortable designing that way;  I wanted them to be something my little models would wear for more than a photoshoot and I wanted them to be cohesive so I came up with the fun idea for school uniforms with a twist! 

I really went crazy here and used SO many different materials to create these looks: cotton wovens, tulle, ponte knit, stretch velvet, french terry, chambray, scuba, mvc, satin ribbon, and what felt like a million buttons! Since I co-own CKC Patterns and we have 1500 patterns to choose from it was a challenge to pick out patterns because every time I found one that I felt embodied that characters style, I would find something else that I loved just as much. I'm pretty sure the hardest part of this whole competition will be settling on a style and finalizing details because I'm way too indecisive!

Let's break down the looks. For Willy Wonka, I went classic school girl look. I used CKC Stormy's and ponte knit in solid khaki from So Sew English Fabrics (SSE) for the skirt. For the button up shirt I used CKC Theodora's and a beautiful floral I found on Etsy. The giant bow tie was a modified CKC Emmett's from a fabric from my stash. Finally for the blazer I used CKC Roxie's in a purple stretch velvet from SSE. Once I gave her a yard stick for his cane and a giant brown bow for his top hat, since no one wears a top hat to school anymore, her look was complete! 

For Charlie Bucket, I knew I wanted to create the look of a Varsity Sweater so I ordered a giant chenille navy blue "W" online (thank you eBay!) and sewed it on a CKC Zita's from navy french terry to jazz it up. I also paired the look with a light purple chambray CKC Eric's, to match Willy Wonka, and with a nod to the classic Charlie Bucket outfit, I made a pair of CKC Jolene's bell bottom pants in denim ponte knit. 

In the original, which is what I based all of my characters from because you don't mess with a classic, Augustus Gloop is much more formal looking than the other children and actually already looks like he's wearing a school uniform. What child wants to look like they are wearing a school uniform though? Instead I used some gray denim looking chambray from my personal stash and used CKC Rizzo's to made some cute retro-looking shorts. I paired them with CKC Talia's because it has a tie collar that I really loved the look of.  Instead of making another blazer, I chose CKC Bebe's and made  a sassy little vest to complete the look.

For Violet Beauregarde in the movie she wears a pant suit looking outfit but I really wanted to make a dress instead. I finally settled on CKC Peggy's; I used navy mvc for the main body and skirt, a beautiful navy embossed velvet for the collar and peplum, and added a ruby crepe scuba belt and gold buttons as finishing touches! 

Mike Teavee was the most difficult because how can you make a cowboy outfit look like a school uniform?   I somehow found the perfect plaid fabric from Spoonflower though and the dress just fell into place from there. I chose to use CKC Mallory's for the dress and I think the model's pink cowboy boots really solidified the overall look I was going for!

Finally, I have Veruca Salt which is another two-piece set. I decided I wanted to make a knit jumper and pair it with a collared top. I wanted to use CKC Journey's for the jumper, but I wanted to make it out of the cute ruby crepe scuba that I had in my stash so I printed out the Journey's bodice and printed out the CKC Kimber's bodice and traced the front and back bodice lines from the Journey's bodice onto the Kimber's bodice, then I sewed Kimber's following the pattern's directions. I used CKC Sparrow's for the collared shirt and I embellished it with buttons and a satin ribbon bow. I think her little golden egg backpack really finished off this look!

Thank you SO much for stopping by to read all about my first week of Project Run & Play! Make sure you head on over to the blog here and check out all the awesome designs for week 1 and vote for your favorite <3

Happy Sewing!
Shannon